Category Archives: Uncategorized

Third class Russian night trains resemble pantries. Long corridors are lined with shelves on which humans are stacked like sacks of potatoes. The nature of the journey depends entirely on who happens to be sleeping on the neighbouring shelves. Settling … Continue reading →

Evil hangs over Aylesbury in a heavy veil. You mark in every face you meet, marks of weakness, marks of woe. Sometimes it seems the gates of hell were flung open and all the wickedest creatures poured forth to find … Continue reading →

On the train to Yekaterinburg an alcoholic called Pavlik diagnosed my soul as dangerously diseased. He wanted to save me. He scrawled “Ivolginsky Datsan” in my notebook and gave me a phone number. He told me to go there, call … Continue reading →

Although his heart stopped ninety years ago, Lenin still resonates in the Russian Federation. He is everywhere. His legacy lives on in the lessons in political kitsch served up by Putin’s personality cult. His legacy lives on in the sacrifice … Continue reading →

Lake Baikal is the biggest fresh water lake on the planet. It is over one mile deep, holds a fifth of the earth’s fresh water and the sediment of decomposed organisms descends another one and a half miles. 1200 of … Continue reading →

The Ecole Normale Supérieure is the most stupidly named university I have ever crossed paths with. How can you be both normal and superior at the same time? The simple answer is you can’t, and I don’t know why anyone … Continue reading →

I live ten minutes from my favourite place in Paris and the protagonist of my favourite French novel- the Cathedral of Notre-Dame. In the book the building is alive, caring for Quasimodo when no one else does. Notre-Dame is a … Continue reading →